Official Voting Results Following the May 24, 2005 By-election Held in Labrador

Archived

The May 24, 2005, by-election in Labrador

This section of the Chief Electoral Officer's report on the federal by-election
held May 24, 2005, describes the circumstances leading to the call
for a by-election, the electoral district involved, the candidates, the numbers
of registered electors and polling stations, and the results.

The following section presents further information and summary data on the
official voting results, in the form of tables. The concluding section gives
the poll-by-poll results for the by-election.

Information on the administration of the May 24, 2005, by-election
and any other by-election that may take place in 2005 will appear in a report
to be published in March 2006:

Report of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Following the 2005 By-election(s)

On December 16, 2004, Lawrence David O'Brien, the Liberal Party of
Canada Member of Parliament for Labrador since March 25, 1996, passed
away, leaving his seat in the House of Commons vacant. A writ ordering a by-election
in Labrador was accordingly issued on April 17, 2005.

Under subsection 57(3) of the Canada Elections Act, federal elections
are always held on a Monday, unless the Monday of that week is a holiday. In
such cases, subsection 57(4) of the Act directs that election day will be the
Tuesday of that week. Since Monday, May 23, 2005, was a holiday, election
day for the by-election in Labrador was on Tuesday, May 24, 2005.

At that time, the seat distribution in the House of Commons was: Liberal Party
of Canada ? 132 seats; Conservative Party of Canada ? 99 seats; Bloc Québécois
? 54 seats; New Democratic Party ? 19 seats; Independent ? 3 seats; and vacant
? 1 seat.

The boundaries of the electoral district of Labrador were the same as those
in effect during the 2004 federal general election. They coincide with the boundaries
defined in the Representation Order of 2003, issued in accordance with the Electoral Boundaries Readjustment Act.

Table 1 – Returning officer

Electoral district

Name

Occupation

Place of residence

Labrador

Barbara Roberts

Manager

Labrador City

Labrador (Newfoundland and Labrador)Population based on the 2001 Census: 27,864

From the date the returning officer, Ms. Barbara Roberts, published the Notice
of Election, the candidates in the by-election had until 2:00 p.m. on May 2, 2005,
to file their nomination papers. In Labrador, four registered parties nominated
candidates: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Green Party of Canada, the
Liberal Party of Canada, and the New Democratic Party. One candidate ran as
an independent. None of the candidates withdrew during the period in which a
withdrawal of candidacy was permitted.

There were 19,571 names on the preliminary lists of electors for the May 24, 2005,
by-election. The lists were produced from information in the National Register
of Electors. During the revision period, which extended from April 20 until
May 17, 2005, 728 electors were registered, including those who were
already on the lists but had their address changed.

The names recorded on the final lists of electors (that is, the lists prepared
after election day) numbered 19,876.

These lists included the names of 755 electors who registered on election day,
some of whom had their address changed.

The Canada Elections Act, section 131, sets 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. as
the hours of voting for by-elections. The ordinary polling stations were accordingly
open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., Atlantic Time, on election day in Labrador.

The returning officer set up 66 ordinary polling stations, 65 of which were
stationary.

The Act provides for the establishment of mobile polling stations to collect
the votes of seniors or persons with disabilities confined to institutions.
These polling stations, set up in polling divisions with more than two institutions,
travel from institution to institution, and remain open at each place only as
long as necessary to enable the electors present to vote. In the May 24, 2005,
by-election, one mobile polling station collected the ballots of electors.

The returning officer in the electoral district is required to set up advance
polling stations to collect the votes of electors who do not wish to go to their
ordinary polling stations on election day. The electoral district of Labrador
had 17 advance polling stations, all of which were open from noon to 8:00 p.m.
(local time), on May 13, 14 and 16, 2005.

The Chief Electoral Officer may adapt the Canada Elections Act under
subsections 17(1) and 178(2). During the 2005 Labrador by-election, he used
these authorities on two occasions.

On election night, it was noted that the transmission of the preliminary poll-by-poll
results could have jeopardized the secrecy of the vote for certain advance polling
stations. Therefore, in order to preserve the secrecy of the vote, subsection
168(4) of the Canada Elections Act was adapted to allow the returning
officer to combine the results of two or more advance polling districts.

Due to an unexplained delay, special ballot kits arrived at the Labrador Correctional
Centre on election day. Consequently, through no fault of their own, 11 incarcerated
electors were unable to ensure that the Special Voting Rules Administrator in
Ottawa received their ballots by the statutory deadline. Division 1 of the Special
Voting Rules as Adapted for the Purposes of a By-election was adapted to
appoint a Special Voting Rules Administrator and additional special ballot officers
in Labrador to take, receive, sort, count and report the votes of incarcerated
electors who were eligible to vote under the Special Voting Rules.